Book VII. MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY COWS. 967 



shire (^Jtg. 648.) have a decided preference as, giving a rich milk and large proportion 



of butter ; and the cheese made from the milk of this breed, known as Dunlop, is 



decidedly celebrated. In Lancashire, the native 64 



long-horned breed, is said in the Report of that 



county to obtain the general preference. But in 



Hodgson's dairy at Caton, in the same district, 



it was found that a short-horned cow, upon an 



average of twelve months, will yield nine quarts of 



milk in the day, and four and a half pounds of 



butter in the week ; and a long-horned cow gives 



eight quarts of milk in the day, and four pounds 



of butter in the week, for the same period. The 



cows of both kinds had constantly the same kind 



of food ; but in order to have the clear result, the quantity of food consumed by each 



cow of the different breeds, should have been fully ascertained. The produte of milk 



and butter is on the side of the short-horned sort; but it is not ascertained whether 



the neat balance is in favor of the short or long -horned. {Lancashire Rqy, 561.) The 



Guernsey breed is valued by some for the richoess of the cream and butter ; but both for 



the dairy and butcher, it is very unprofitable. 



6185. Where butter is the principal object, such cows should always be chosen as are 

 known to afford the best and largest quantities of milk and cream, of whatever breed 

 they may be. But the quantity of butter to be made from a given number of cows must 

 always depend on a variety of contingent circumstances : such as the size and goodness 

 of the beasts ; the kind and quantity of the food ; and the distance of time from calving. 

 As to the first, it need scarcely be mentioned that a large cow will give greater store of 

 milk than one of a smaller size ; though cows of equal size differ as to the quantity of 

 cream produced from the milk of each : it is, therefore, on those cows whose milk is not 

 only in large abundance, but which, from a peculiar inherent richness, yields a thick 

 cream, that the butter dairy-man is to place his chief dependence ; and w^here a cow is 

 deficient in either of these, she should be parted with, and her place supplied by one 

 more proper for this use. As to the second particular, namely, the kind and quality of 

 the food, those who would wish to profit by a dairy ought to provide for their cows hay 

 of a superior goodness, to be given them in the depth of winter, and this in an unlimited 

 degree, that they may always feed till they are perfectly satisfied. And, when the weather 

 will permit, the cows should be indulged with an outlet to marshes or low meadow- 

 grounds, where they may feed on such green vegetables as are present ; which is far 

 preferable to the practice of confining them the whole day on dry meat, will enable 

 them to yield greater plenty of milk, and will give a fine yellow color to the butter even 

 in the winter season. 



6186. In the vales of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, very great numbers of cows 

 are kept for the purpose of butter. These fertile lands maintain a breed of large cows, 

 which yield great store of milk ; so that it is no uncommon circumstance for one farmer 

 to keep a herd of fifty or sixty, and to collect a quantity of cream sufficient to fill a 

 barrel-churn of sixty gallons in a week. The butter made from this cream is sold by 

 the farmer or dairyman, to persons who make it their business to purchase this article at 

 a stated price from Michaelmas to Lady-day, and at an inferior rate from Lady-day to 

 Michaelmas. The butter thus collected is sent to London every week in waggons. It 

 is consigned to the dealers, who retail it to the consumer ; and no small profit from this 

 traffic accrues to the waggoner and the butter-merchant. This butter is mostly made up in 

 lumps, containing the quantity of two pounds in each, and for that reason it has obtained 

 the name of lump-butter. Its flavor is peculiarly sweet and agreeable, which is chiefly 

 owing to the goodness of the pasture whereon the cows are fed ; for this intrinsic merit 

 would in vain be sought for in butter made from ordinary pastures, how great soever 

 may be the skill of the dairy- woman. And though the grass should be equally luxuriant, 

 the cows of the same breed, and the cream in like abundance, yet would a decided pre- 

 ference still remain in favor of the vale-fed cows ; for, as a fattening beast on rich land 

 will thrive much quicker than on thin soils, though the herbage be shorter on the former 

 than on the poor ground, so will cows give a larger store of milk, and that of a more nu- 

 tritious quality, when fed on deep fertile meadows, than if depastured on those of inferior 

 goodness or quality. 



6187. Epping butter has long been held in the highest estimation : and great quanti- 

 ties are manufactured in Cambridgeshire and the adjoining counties. The Cambridge 

 butter is sent in small pans; and has an additional quantity of salt mixed with it, to 

 insure its keeping for ten days or a fortnight, and is generally perfectly free from any 

 rancid taste. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and other neighboring counties, where the 

 land is rich and fertile, likewise supply large quantities of butter, which is salted and put 

 into tubs for the southern markets. 



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